Retention is the holy grail of running a gym, and the process of keeping your members from chasing is as complex as it is difficult.
Here are a number of strategies and tips that will help you retain more members and increase your
It’s the most frustrating question in the fitness industry: once you get members on board, how do you retain them?
After all, increasing your gym’s member retention rate is a surefire way to increase your revenue. According to a study conducted by the Harvard Business Review, acquiring a new customer costs 5 to 25 times more than retaining an existing customer.
However, you can also collect first-hand data through your gym software provider or partner apps.
Through the use of first-party data, you can make every customer feel like a priority in your gym and retain customers longer by developing a personal relationship with them.
We’ll look at how you can use first-party data to provide a more personalized experience for your club members and retain them longer.
Member buying habits
If you sell retail items like dietary supplements or branded items at your front desk, you can feature each customer’s favorite products in the POS module. This can make them feel like your company really takes the time to learn about their preferences and behaviors.
For example, if an active member frequently buys a protein shake after each workout, you can whip one up at the front desk when they finish their session.
Additionally, you can ask members during their registration process if they would like automated messages sent to them before their regular workouts to motivate them.
Also consider adding direct mail or postcards with an attractive offer to your strategy , as tangible mailings have a longer shelf life. (They are often stuck on the fridge or stored next to the computer for use when the time is right).
When it comes to your members, a one-size-fits-all approach is no longer enough. Create dynamic campaigns based on customer behavior and interests for a more relevant approach and higher member retention rates.
You can combine indoor tracking with apps that integrate fitness equipment with a mobile workout tracking app to understand which machines are used the most.
For example, you may find that a large number of leg devices are not used by the majority of your members. Additionally, you may find that all of your treadmills are almost always in use during peak hours.
With this information, you can replace leg exercise machines with treadmills to provide your members with more of the equipment they use.
By optimizing your selection of amenities based on what your members want and use the most, you’ll provide them with a great experience, even during peak hours.
Courses and trainers
The same can be said of overcrowded classrooms. Being in a gym where you can barely do all the exercises in the class because it’s too full can cause members to leave your gym for less crowded classes elsewhere.
But by limiting the number of members attending classes, you can provide a better experience for your customers.
It is important not to be greedy and not to overload the rooms to increase income. Remember that retention is much easier and cheaper than acquisition in most cases.
Also, you can find out which courses to promote and which trainers give you the best return on investment through course and trainer reviews
Long queues at gyms are annoying. Members often have strict schedules and limited time they can devote to the gym.
With effective self-service solutions, you can eliminate front desk queues, automatically collect customer debts and new payments, and distribute product packages to customers without them needing to be present. in the gym.
Sometimes members stumble upon special promotions from your competitors or simply can’t afford paid courses.
By separating your pricing plans into tiers and offering different payment options to members, you’ll reduce the likelihood of them leaving your club for financial reasons.
You can try to entice members who are likely to leave the club by offering them long-term contracts at deep discounts, once you understand the reasons for their possible departure.
This is where targeted customer feedback can really help. If you use a business intelligence or analytics service, you can spot marginal customers on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
From there, you can run customer feedback campaigns to learn about their pain points and build strategies to retain them.
Remember that customers are more valuable the more they remain customers, so use your first-party data to identify trends in customers changing their minds to address issues they may be facing. Monitor and correlate member attendance with course offerings. If you have a large number of members who have shown interest in certain types of classes, offer a group class during those times to see if members are interested and book it.
Freezing of accounts
Frozen accounts can be a good time to increase income a bit; however, they can be a hit or miss case for some members who may feel taken advantage of when requesting a short-term account freeze.
